Day 10 - Castaway Cay

On Saturday, the boat was docked at Castaway Cay, their private island, all day.  After breakfast, we decided to head off the boat even though it was a little chilly that morning.

 The girls were happy as could be playing in the water; it was a little too cold for my taste (hey, we were there on November 10th!).  I absolutely love this picture that Ryan took of them playing in the gorgeous water.

 We had not brought one single beach toy with us, so we surprised them with these Nemo buckets that we purchased on the island (how convenient, right?).  They were pretty excited about them.

 Mia set right to work digging and covering herself with sand.

 Lily started building a sandcastle too.

 Liz and Ryan started looking for sand dollars in the water.  Liz braved the cold water to go out pretty deep looking for one!  Unfortunately, none were found.

The girls were content to play in the sand and stay in the shallow water.

 After a couple of hours, the beach started to get more crowded as more people got off the boat and made their way over.  We decided it would be more fun to head back to the pool area of the ship; we were correct in our guess that the place would be practically deserted for the beach.  The girls were more than happy when they realized we were going back to the pool deck.  Back to the fun twirly slide!

 Hanging with my precious girls.

 We pretty much had the place to ourselves which was great.  While we swam, we also enjoyed Mary Poppins on the big screen.  Movie and a swim...what could be better?

 Having a blast!

 Lily enjoyed her short time in the hot tub.

 The girls also visited Nemo's Reef again for some more splashing fun.

Finally, it was time to pack up and head back in to wash up and take a late, short nap.  After the girls woke up, we watched a beautiful sunset off our balcony and got ready for our final dinner in the Enchanted Garden restaurant.

A few minutes into our dinner, Lily started getting very upset about her ear hurting.  Ryan took her back to our room to rest, eat room service and take some Amoxicillan (we still had some from Mia's dosage received earlier in the week).  Liz, Mia and I enjoyed our last dinner and then went back to the room to check on Ryan and Lily.  Thankfully Lily was feeling a little better, so we all went to see the "Dream" show in the theatre together.  It was a good show that had lots of great characters in it, so we all enjoyed that.  Unfortunately, after the show was over, it was time to head back to pack up and head to bed.

On Sunday morning, we finished packing the last few items and then headed off the boat back in Port Canaveral.  We made a quick stop for breakfast at McDonald's (we weren't willing to be ready and at the boat's breakfast at 6:45) and then headed on home which was a smooth ride. 

Our adventure had come to a close.  I have to say, this trip was pretty much everything I had been dreaming about for quite awhile.  Sure, of course there were a few not great moments when the girls got overly tired/hungry/whiny, but for the most part, they were so happy and excited to see and do everything.  I love seeing this world through their innocence and eyes, and Disney is a great place to experience this.  We're so glad Liz has a big birthday coming up, so we could all take this trip together and make tons of great family memories!



Day 9 - Nassau

On Friday morning around 9AM, the Dream docked in Nassau for the day.  We enjoyed breakfast at the Enchanted Garden restaurant and let a lot of the crowd off the boat.  Afterwards, Liz decided to hang out onboard while the four of us headed onto land.  We had decided not to do a pricey excursion, but we wanted to get off for a few minutes.  So we headed just past the dock and decided to go with a carriage ride.  The girls loved our horse "Jazzy" (except when he pooped as we walked).  At one point, Mia turned around and said "This is the funnest thing I ever done!"  They really enjoyed the ride around town.

 Documenting they were in the Bahamas.

 Ryan snapped this quick picture as we headed back towards the boat.

 It was a gorgeous day outside, so we returned to our room, put on our bathing suits and headed to the pool deck.  The girls absolutely loved playing up here!  They had a great little twisty yellow slide that they both rode again and again.  They also had an awesome slide for the adults called The Aquaduck (featuring Donald).  It is 14 stories above the water, and the tube goes out over the side of the boat and makes a huge circle around the boat, so you get some amazing views.  All three of us loved it!  The girls also loved playing in "Nemo's Reef" which is a neat little splash pad.

 You can splash or get soaking wet.

 They both enjoyed the little Mr. Rey slide in the Reef.

 Even Pearl squirted a little water.

 We ate lunch up by the pool and then headed back to our room for a nap; both girls were exhausted from so much playing in the water.  Liz was very kind to stay in the room while they napped, so Ryan and I could go see the 3D Wreck-It Ralph in the ship's movie theatre.  It was a cute movie!  After the movie, we went back to the room where Mia was just waking up.  By then, it was time to get ready for Pirate Night on the boat!  First up was meeting pirate Minnie.

 Then we all put on our pirate bandannas and met Pirate Mickey.

 We also had the chance to meet Captain Hook and Mr. Smee!

 After meeting all these fun pirates, we went down to dinner in Animator's Palette.  This was an amazing experience (with pretty good food too).  All around the restaurants, they have large screens on the wall.  Throughout the meal, the Nemo, Dori, Bruce and others swim by on the screen.  They also play a game with the fish who make shapes like in the movie and the guests try to guess what shape they are making.  Here they are making a camera.  The graphics on these screens were unbelievable.

 Dude Crush also makes an appearance on each screen, and he "talks" to the people at nearby tables.  At our screen, he tried to talk to Mia!  She turned shy, so Liz answered the questions (her name and how old she was) for her, but it was really cool to see how he would interact and respond to the answers given to him.  Disney magic at work!

 After dinner, Liz took the girls back to our room while Ryan and I made a little stop at the souvenir shop.  How could we celebrate pirate night without a Jake and Izzy doll?  The girls were thrilled!  This added another great element to their pirate ship playing on the bunk.

 Finally it was time for the Pirate Party on the pool deck.  Mickey and friends came out to teach everyone how to be real pirates (like saying "Aye Aye Captain!" when asked to do something by the captain).  It was a fun show to watch.

 Our new found pirate knowledge came in handy a few minutes later when Captain Hook and his gang came out to take over the ship.  Luckily we were able to help Mickey show him we were real pirates and Hook needed to leave!

When this show finished, Ryan took the girls back to our room to head to bed, but Liz and I went to see the "Villains" show in the theatre.  Their shows are so well-done, but I'm really grateful the girls didn't go to this one; it would have given them both nightmares as it was filled with nothing but the mean, scary-looking, villains of Disney movies.  When the show was over, I went back to the room to switch places with Ryan.  He went to enjoy the fireworks show off the side of the boat while I went on to bed.  Another fun day!

Day 8 - Surprise!

We had another big surprise up our sleeve for the girls.  I had told them that we planned to visit a different park each day (granted that plan changed a little, but that was the original thought), so Thursday morning, Lily asked what the name of the park was.  I told her after breakfast at Ohana, we were going to Port Canaveral.  She said okay.  As we pulled into the port, she pointed out the window and said "Mommy, there's one of those big cruise boats that you and Daddy like to go on.  It even has Mickey Mouse on it!"  We couldn't stand it any longer, so we asked "Would you guys like to go on that big cruise boat with us?"  We were met with very enthusiastic shrieks!  As we were in the check-in lobby, I asked the girls to show me their excited faces for the good news, and here's what they showed me:

 After we checked in, we met Minnie in front of the ship's model.

 

 We boarded (super easy boarding process) and went to our room, Cabin 10610.  We were all surprised because Ryan had it decorated for us beforehand!  They strung a bon voyage banner and sparkler in the middle of the room.  It made us feel very welcome.  This room was perfect for our family!  Right when you walk in, there was a large closet on the right and two bathrooms on the right.  Leave it to Disney to be so smart; one bathroom had a toilet and sink while the other had a roomy shower and sink, so multiple people could use it without being in each other's space.  Just past that was a comfortable queen size bed and then a curtain dividing it from the rest of the room.  Lily and I actually shared this bed.

 On the other side of the divider curtain was a sofa that folded down into a bed where Mia slept.  There was also a storage ottoman, long counter filled with cabinets, shelves, drawers and a mini-fridge, a large mirror and a tv.  During the day, this gave us plenty of room to move around.  While we were at dinner each evening, housekeeping would come in and pull a bunk down from the ceiling which is where Liz slept; they also pulled a Murphy bed from the wall where Ryan slept.

While I think the girls thought the top bunk was the best part of the room (they had a blast playing pirate ship on it), Ryan, Liz and I all loved our balcony.  We thoroughly enjoyed sitting outside and seeing the ocean go by.  Just beautiful.

 We all enjoyed seeing what fun towel creations housekeeping would come up with each evening too.  We all thought this lobster with Mia's sunglasses was pretty cute!

 We took some time to explore the ship.  The girls loved the huge porthole windows with cushions.  They would have stayed here awhile if we had let them. 

 I thought this was beautiful as it hung in the atrium.

 This was a neat Cinderella mosaic.

 We all enjoyed the Sail Away party just after the muster drill.  It was fun to see lots of characters come out and dance around; we were all excited to leave.  It was really cool to hear the ship's whistle sound "when you wish upon a star" as we sailed away.

 The girls enjoyed their bird's eye view of the show.  They sat like this for a few minutes on the other side of the deck too once they realized we were moving!

After the party, we headed to our first dinner at The Royal Palace.  There are three dining rooms onboard, and you visit a different one each night per your assignment; your waiter and assistant waiter move with you which is neat.  The girls loved that our waiter showed them a magic trick and made the napkins rise up in the air.  This particular restaurant was what you imagine a palace to look like; they serve mostly french food, and I think we all enjoyed it.

 

After dinner, we had a chance to meet Sailor Pluto.

After this we headed to the theatre to see "The Golden Mickeys" which was a fun production.  Lots of characters, especially princesses, made an appearance, so the girls were happy about that.  It was after 9PM when this finished though, so the girls were exhausted.  We headed on back to our room to settle down and rest up for a fun day tomorrow.



Day 8 - Breakfast at Ohana

On Thursday morning, we enjoyed a yummy breakfast at the Polynesian hotel's restaurant, Ohana.  This is a neat hotel that was fun to look around.

 At breakfast, we were visited by Stitch.

 Lilo stopped by too.

 The characters led a parade, but neither girl wanted to get out and walk in it; they preferred to stay at our table, eat and people watch.

 

When the parade ended, Mickey stopped by for a visit.

 Last up was Pluto.  He kindly held his ear up when I told him it was covering Mia's face!

 The staff knew we were visiting between the girls' birthdays (though this trip was for Liz's birthday, not either of theirs).  They surprised the girls with birthday cards signed by the visiting characters.

This was a nice way to end our time at Disney World.  More fun was coming, and the girls had no idea...